Game of Thorns
by LastCorsair
Summary: When Weiss' father catches Ruby and Weiss in a caring moment, the game of thorns begins. (High school AU, with whiterose and bumblebee)
1. In flagrante delicto

Weiss looked up from her lunch at Ruby, one eyebrow raised. "You've got something on your face," the white-haired girl said sharply.

Ruby blinked, picking up a paper napkin and wiping her face with it. "Where? Did I get it?"

"No." Before Ruby could react, Weiss leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Now you've got it." She stabbed her fork into her salad, lifting it to her lips even as a tide of pink spread across her own cheeks. Weiss wasn't used to physical affection, hugs, kisses on the cheek, that sort of thing, but as she'd come to know Ruby, she's become more used to them. A smug smile spread across her lips as she realized her therapist would probably be pleased at how she was "overcoming her issues with intimacy," if Weiss dared tell the woman.

The pair sat off to one side of the main courtyard, in a quiet little nook partially hidden from view by trees. It was a popular spot among those that wanted a little privacy either before classes or during lunch, and Weiss was sure she'd heard people approach then scurry off at least twice today.

Ruby laughed, giving Weiss a mischievous look. "Okay, you got me, Weiss, but I think you can do better than that."

Now Weiss' eyes narrowed. "Is that a challenge? Fine." She leaned closer to Ruby, her lips parting slightly in anticipation. Just before their lips met, Weiss inhaled reflexively, filling her nostrils with the indescribable scent of Ruby. It wasn't roses or strawberries, but somewhere in between, uniquely Ruby and somehow more precious to Weiss than anything.

A sharp cough interrupted them, and Weiss pulled back, her face a mix of annoyance and embarrassment. It had to be one of the school staff, a student would have spoken aloud. She cleared her throat and straightened her uniform jacket before turning to face the intruder. "Yes, what-" she said before her brain locked up in fear and terror.

It wasn't one of the school faculty or staff that had interrupted them. Weiss' father stood there, arms at his side, a frown on his face. "Excuse my interruption, but I need to speak to Weiss in private for a moment, miss…?" He trailed off, and the pair of them sat frozen for a moment before Weiss jabbed Ruby gently with an elbow.

"Ruby, Ruby Rose, sir." Of course Ruby knew who he was, she'd seen pictures of him a few times, but in person, he seemed so… cold and intimidating.

"Miss Rose, if you will excuse us." Her father led Weiss off to one side, far enough away that Ruby wouldn't hear if they kept their voices down. "I apologize for bothering you at school, Weiss, but you didn't respond to my text messages."

Weiss winced. "I'm sorry, Father, but school regulations state that phones must be silenced during classes, and I neglected to check it at lunch."

"Please be more careful about checking it in the future, perhaps between classes." His head toward where Ruby was sitting and Weiss felt an icicle of panic slide between into her heart. "Father, I can explain-"

He raised a hand. "We will discuss your relationship with Miss Rose another time. Right now there is something else I need to discuss with you. Charles Winchester and I have a dinner meeting this evening. He asked me to bring you along, saying that you have been avoiding his son Cardin lately. I assume you would prefer not to join us?" Jacques folded his arms and stood there, waiting for her response.

Weiss snorted. "Father, what I have to say about Cardin Winchester is not fit for polite company. I was only being nice to him because his father's a business partner of yours."

"I see," Jacques said, nodding. "In that case, I will let Charles know that you have other plans tonight. I will speak with you when return home."

Weiss was shaking as she sat back down next to Ruby. "Everything okay, Weiss?" Ruby asked softly, laying a hand across Weiss's shoulders and pulling her close.

"No, Ruby, it's not okay," Weiss answered, sniffling. "It'd be better if he was furious, that I'm used to, I know how to handle, but this… I don't know how to handle this. Father was… unreadable, like he didn't know how to react."

"Hey." Ruby reached up with her other hand and wiped a stray hair out of Weiss' face tenderly. "Don't worry, we'll work it out."

"You don't get it." Weiss turned her head away, not wanting Ruby to see the tears starting to roll down her face. "He-he'll demand I stop seeing you, or transfer me to another school, or, or something, I don't know."

"Weiss." Now Ruby's hand reached up and lifted Weiss's chin, turning her face to meet Ruby's. "No matter what he does, I'll still be here, as long as you want me here." Now her thumb reached up to wipe away the tears. "I promise."

"P-Promise?"

"Pinky promise, even." And with that Ruby pulled Weiss close, not saying anything more, just sitting there, holding her.

* * *

Weiss was working on a paper for history, her fingers flying across the keyboard when an IM from Ruby popped up. _Everything OK?_

Weiss stopped and smiled, sending a message back. _Father hasn't come home yet. I suspect shenanigans_

_Shenanigans? Oh, good word, Weiss, I had to look that one up_

_Dolt._ It had become something of a game for the two of them, finding words the other didn't know. _You caught __me __out with defenestration so that was payback_

_So whatcha doing?_

_Working on my history paper for Doctor Oobleck. You?_

_Civics, Professor Port. I'm not interrupting, am I?_

The white-haired girl sighed. _No, the paper was already mostly written and isn't due for another week. I was working on it mostly to keep from worrying. Though I will admit being surprised that you're doing schoolwork and not playing video games with your brute of a sister_

_Blake's here, and I wanted to give them __some space_

_You mean you didn't want to be around them making kissy-face :P_ Weiss smirked. Somehow adding the emoji made her inordinately pleased.

_Yeah, true. And we owe Blake for making Yang knock off the teasing. It was totally worth buying her lunch at Seven Seas_

That made Weiss pause before she replied. _The seafood restaurant? How much did that set you back? I know how Blake loves seafood_

_Not telling. And I did it afterward, as a thank-you, not a bribe_

A knock at the door interrupted Weiss before she could reply. "Miss Weiss? Your father is home, and would like to speak with you."

_I have to go,_ Weiss sent quickly. _Father is home and wishes to see me_

She barely caught Ruby's response before she left. _Good luck and I love you_

Weiss made her way to her father's office, suppressing a shiver as she made her way through the house. She hated it. This wasn't a home, it was a monument to her father's wealth and power. She'd been to Blake and Ruby's home, and yes, Blake's too. Those were homes, places where a family lived and love and laughed, and sometimes cried. Weiss had been there when Yang had finally learned the truth about her mother, and had seen how their family had come together to support her. That, that was what family was meant to be. The only relative she felt any of that with was Winter, and Winter was in the military now.

Weiss sighed. Her birth family might not be the most caring, but the family she had made more than made up for the family she'd been given.

She stepped in her father's office, stopping in front of the desk. "You asked to see me, Father?"

He gestured her to one of the chairs in front of the desk. So it was to be one of those, where her father at least started out pretending to be friendly and reasonable. "I'm sorry to be so late talking to you about this tonight, Weiss, but Charles Winchester can be rather long-winded. Now, tell me about this Ruby Rose." Weiss' father leaned forward, his hands folded together on top of his desk. "I've seen so many young men try to get your attention over the years, so I find myself curious about the young lady that finally did."

Weiss licked her lips, nervous. "Um, Ruby is a sophmore, she's attending Beacon on an athletics scholarship, but one with stringent academic requirements as well, which she far exceeds."

Jacques grunted. "She's not getting in the way of your own classwork, is she?"

"I think you would have noticed if my grades had fallen, Father." The only response was another grunt. Weiss was damn sure he had bribed someone in the bursar's office to keep him appraised of her academic standing. "Ruby's father is a captain in the Vale police department, and she has a half-sister. Her mother is deceased." There, bare facts. Hopefully, that would satisfy her father.

"I see. And I assume that your involvement with Ruby is behind your recent push for more independence, things like getting your driver's license and wanting your own car?" Her father's head tilted to one side, giving her a challenging look.

"Partly. I will soon graduate, and I will need to be able to handle living on my own while at school."

"And she's not asking you for money or anything?"

"No." Weiss shook her head. "Ruby gets very flustered when I try to buy things for her, and refuses them if she can." The one expensive item Weiss had managed to buy for Ruby was a dress for the school's winter formal, and that had taken two solid weeks of convincing.

Now her father nodded. "And her family's not going to be an embarrassment if the press gets wind of your relationship?"

This was dangerous territory. "One… potential problem with Ruby's half-sister, Yang. Yang's mother is in prison, serving a life sentence."

Instantly her father's face grew grim, and Weiss' heart broke. This, this was the thing he was going to use to justify demanding that Weiss break off things with Ruby. If only he hadn't asked…. "What's her mother in prison for?"

"Terrorism." Weiss swallowed; she'd been shocked herself when she found out what Yang's mother had done. "Do you remember the Atlas Spire incident?"

"It's not something I'm likely ever to forget." Jacques Schnee stood, turning to look out the window. "Your mother and I were there, after all. We'd just married, and everyone who was anyone was there. So Yang's mother was involved in that?"

"I…. didn't know you were there. Yang's mother is the ringleader, Raven Branwen," Weiss answered, fighting to keep her voice level.

"And their father is a police captain? I would think that being involved in something like that would ruin a man's career." Weiss' father half-turned away from the window, looking at her sideways from the corner of his eye.

Weiss smoothed her skirt nervously. "From what I understand, Taiyang and Raven had a one-night stand shortly before the attack. Raven gave birth during her trial and named Taiyang the father, mostly out of spite. One paternity test later, Taiyang found himself a single father."

"Mm. It must have been difficult, balancing a police career with fatherhood."

"Taiyang is a formidable man. There's a lot of him in his daughters." No need to complicate the discussion by mentioning Qrow Branwen, and how much help he'd given Tai in the beginning.

Jacques returned to his desk, looking at Weiss. "And how much contact has Yang had with her mother?"

"Just before Yang's seventeenth birthday, Raven sent her a letter. It… upset her greatly." Which was a massive understatement. Yang and her father had argued for hours, almost coming to blows, and had barely spoken for days afterward. "In the end, Yang wrote her mother back, telling Raven not to contact her again. I don't think she's heard from Raven since."

"A tenuous connection at best, then, easily handled if the press gets wind of it." Now Weiss could see it. He was willing to let her do whatever she wanted, so long as it didn't embarrass the family and she did what he commanded. "Now, about Cardin Winchester-"

"No." The single syllable slipped from Weiss' lips like a gunshot before she was even aware she'd spoken.

"Excuse me?" Jacques Schnee tilted his head to one side, giving his middle child a puzzled look. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

Weiss took a deep breath, calming herself. No way to avoid this confrontation. She'd known for years she'd have to openly defy her father sooner or later, she'd just never assumed it would come so soon. _But then you never expected to meet Ruby, did you?_ "You are about to demand that I continue to be polite to Cardin Winchester, so that his father will continue to be agreeable to whatever business deal you're trying to talk him into, maybe even friendly or… more than that. With the understanding that if I do so, Ruby and I will be allowed to continue. No. I am finished with being anything resembling 'polite' to Cardin Winchester or his father, and certainly not in the name of a little more profit for you. And I will continue my relationship with Ruby Rose whether you like it or not." There, done. Now Weiss steeled herself for her father's reaction, and for all the emotion she showed, she might as well been carved from ice.

"I see." Her father's voice was ice to match her own. "And that's your decision, then?"

"Yes."

"Very well." Jacques' eyes met Weiss's and she felt a shiver she couldn't suppress. "Charles Winchester mentioned tonight that Cardin needed an escort for a charity event this weekend. I told him that I would discuss the matter with you. But you have other plans for this Saturday evening, don't you?"

"Of course, Father." Or she would, as soon as she and Ruby could come up with something. An impromptu video game tournament or something similar might be sufficient. And hadn't the latest entry in that series Ruby and her sister were always playing just been released? _Grimm Reaper VII_ or some nonsense like that? Weiss was getting better at video games, she'd swear she was. "That reminds me, I will be late coming home tomorrow. Ruby and I have some shopping to do."

Her father raised an eyebrow. "I thought she wouldn't let you buy her gifts."

"I'm enlisting Ruby's help in an area in which I have little knowledge..."

* * *

"Knock off the pacing, Rubes, you're giving me whiplash trying to see around you. Or at least go somewhere else and do it. Like your room." Yang was getting severely annoyed as her sister paced around their livinng room. Her sister had been so on edge you could have cut diamonds with her ever since she got home.

Ruby spun around to glare at Yang, silver eyes pinning her sister to the couch like a butterfly mounted for display. "Not. Helping. _Yang."_

Yang froze, recoiling in terror. She'd never actually been scared of her sister before. "Jeez, Ruby, knock it off. You're freaking me out, here. Where'd you learn to glare like that?"

"Weiss," admitted Ruby, deflating as she dropped down on the couch next to Yang.

Now the blonde winced. "Hey, sis it'll be okay. You know, don't let Blake hear this, but you and Weiss make a better couple than me and Blake. I mean, you even got the Ice Queen to ditch class, for a whole day! Remember that?"

"Yeah." Ruby couldn't help but smile at the memory. Right after homeroom, Yang had gotten the idea of ditching class to go play mini golf. Weiss had been livid at the idea that Ruby would even consider such a thing, and had followed them out the disused gate Yang used when she 'needed a break," arguing with Ruby about the merits of sometimes breaking the rules. By the time Weiss's brain caught up with what was going on, they were on a city bus to the mini golf course. The look on her face had been literally priceless. Blake had even gotten a picture.

That hadn't been the best part of the day, though. The absolute best part had come when they stopped for lunch. Halfway through their third extra-large pizza with extra pepperoni and extra cheese, Weiss had stopped, staring into space with her mouth full of food. When they got her to snap out of it and asked her what was wrong, Weiss had swallowed quickly ad simply answered, "I, I think I like you, Ruby, as more than a friend."

Yang had been the first one to break the stunned silence. "So whatcha going to do about it, Ice Queen? You gonna put the moves on my baby sis? Because if you think you are, I think you'd better rethink that." Ruby had just dumped a pitcher of soda on her sister's head and propped her head on one hand, waiting for Weiss to speak.

Now Ruby sighed. "You don't get it, Yang. After her dad caught us, Weiss was _terrified._ You ever seen Weiss scared of anything, even a little? Ever seen her back down from anything? And don't call her Ice Queen, it hurts her feelings."

"Nope. She's pretty much the queen of 'challenge accepted,'' that's for sure. And I'm sorry for getting mad, and I'm sorry for calling her Ice Queen. I know what she means to you." Yang wrapped an arm around her sister, giving up on the MMA bout she was watching. "I've got your back, sis. And Weiss', if she needs it."

"Thanks." Before she could say any more, Ruby's phone rang. "Weiss?! Are you okay? Was he mad? Are you grounded forever? Please don't say you're breaking up with me!"

"Calm down, dolt. My father's reaction was… not what I expected. He seemed to take us dating better than I expected. Frankly, he was more worried about Yang's mother than anything else."

"Raven? What does she have to do with this?" Now Yang was giving Ruby a puzzled, angry look.

"Apparently, my parents were at Atlas Spire when Raven pulled her stunt." Quickly, Weiss filled Ruby (and Yang, once Ruby put her on speaker) in on her conversation with her father. "… and that's everything,"" she finished with a heavy sigh.

"Huh." Yang was deep in thought. "Seems like your dad is playing some sort of head game with you, a long one."

"That's what I think, too. But what's his endgame, his goal?" Ruby could practically feel the tension in Weiss' voice.

"Not sure, but we'd better figure it out quick." Ruby's face was grim. "Because if he wants to play games, you know what I think?

"Game on."


	2. Dawn

Whitley felt one corner of his mouth twitch up in a smirk as he watched Weiss eat her breakfast. Weiss was looking at Father more than usual this morning, which meant she had either done something or was planning on doing something. Either way, it meant trouble for Weiss, and he was going to enjoy that. Now to figure out what it was…

"Weiss." Father picked up his morning paper as one of the kitchen staff picked up his breakfast dishes and refilled his coffee. The paper was an obvious prop; their father made sure to be informed of anything of interest to him long before it made print. Most mornings he didn't even bother opening the paper.

"Yes, Father?" Weiss set down her knife and fork, pausing in the act of demolishing one of those loathsome omelets she loved. She was wary, wary was good. Whitley picked up his coffee to hide his growing smirk.

"This game console you want, do you need a television as well?"

"You have the option; you can play either on the built-in screen or connect it to a television. The Switch itself is small enough to be hand-held, if a bit large."

Whitley choked as some of his coffee went down the wrong way. "A g-game console?" he gasped as he wiped coffee off his shirt. "Father doesn't allow those, Weiss."

Now Father looked over the paper at Whitley, frowning. "I think I will be the judge of what I do and do not allow, Whitley. And remember to change your shirt before school. You've spilled coffee all over yourself. Now, Weiss, don't get too carried away when you go shopping. Let's say, half a dozen games to start. And we'll discuss a television for your bedroom later."

"Of course, Father." Weiss smiled. She didn't need to let her father know she intended to get Ruby the Deluxe Collector's Edition of _Grimm Reaper VII_ and one for herself, now did she?

* * *

"Yes!" Ruby barely suppressed a whoop of joy as her locker opened on the first try. _Starting the day off on a good note, oh yeah!_ She slid her civics books on the shelf and checked herself in her mirror before shutting for the door. Ruby hadn't given too much thought to her looks before, but now, well, she was starting to care. Love was weird, and it made you do dumb stuff like worry about your looks. Idly Ruby tilted her hair to one side, wondering what she'd look like with longer hair. Not as long as her sister's, or Weiss or Blake's, but maybe down to her shoulders?

Suddenly a pair of hands dropped over her eyes from behind, blocking her sight. "Guess who?"

There was no way Ruby was ever not going to recognize that voice, but she decided to play along. If Weiss was feeling playful… "Uh, Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Dolt." Weiss spun Ruby around and pulled her in for a hug. "I missed you."

"Missed you too." Ruby pulled back a little and looked at Weiss, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Hey, now that your dad knows, are we still keeping things cool in public?"

Weiss opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a hand grabbed her arm, jerking her away from Ruby. "You and I need to talk, Schnee."

"Cardin." Weiss' voice was cold and level, far nicer than she felt like being. "I don't think we have anything to talk about," she said, shaking his hand off her arm.

"No, we've got something we need to get straight between the two of us." Cardin leaned forward, crowding her, and it was all she could do not to gag. "You're mine, Schnee, and you and I have a date Saturday night. Got it?"

Weiss sighed. Cardin had always been a little… pushy with her, but this was beyond next level. "First things first, your breath is atrocious. Breath mints are a thing, invest in some. And second, I never have been nor will I ever be 'yours' in any sense of the word. I was being polite to you, nothing more. I don't want to think how stupid you have to be to think otherwise. Third, I already have plans for Saturday."

"Yeah, with me," Cardin growled, reaching out to grab her again.

Weiss scoffed and batted his hands away. "No, with my girlfriend. Who is definitely not you, although it might be amusing to see you in a skirt." There, the die was cast, Weiss had said it in public, where someone who couldn't be trusted to keep the secret might hear. Though Cardin was probably too dense to notice.

Or maybe not. "Skirt-what? You're a dyke? I'll fix that, you'll see." Cardin stepped closer, still trying to grab her, and Weiss danced out of his reach, Ruby's movements matching her own. Cardin's head turned and he glared at Ruby. "Oh, I get it. She's the one that turned you against me. I'll settle up with her first, then." He turned and lunged for Ruby, but before he could connect, Ruby dodged and Weiss planted her foot on his ass, sending Cardin crashing into a locker before slumping to the ground. The students watching laughed as Cardin rose to his feet, face red with fury and humiliation. "You little bitch, I'll wipe that smirk off your face."

"You'll do no such thing, Mister Winchester." Headmaster Ozpin stood there, leaning on his cane. "I saw enough as I approached to have a fairly clear idea of what was happening, and that kind of behavior is not acceptable on this campus. I am suspending you and will be discussing your expulsion with the board of directors."

"Yeah, right," Cardin said, standing up with a laugh. "You'll never expel me. My father-"

"I wouldn't be so sure about this, Mister Winchester." Ozpin glared at Cardin as he stepped between him and Weiss. "You have a stack of… disciplinary incidents involving other students, particularly those who are Faunus, female, or both. None serious enough to call for your expulsion individually, but added to this incident…. And I'm fairly certain Miss Schnee's father will have something to say about this as well. You will accompany me to my office immediately. Miss Schnee, Miss Rose, I would appreciate it if you accompanied me as well so I can contact your parents."

As they sat outside Ozpin's office, Ruby stared at her shoes and sighed. "I'm sorry, Weiss. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine." Weiss reached over and took Ruby's hand, giving it a squeeze. "You didn't make Cardin be an asshole. And if nothing else, my father's reaction to this should be… informative."

It was less than twenty minutes before Weiss' father arrived and stood there, glaring at the pair of them. "Never before have I been summoned to one of my children's school because they were involved in an 'incident.' And I see Ruby is here as well. Explain yourself."

Weiss straightened her jacket, taking a deep breath. "Cardin accosted me in the hallway, insisting that I was 'his' and that I would be accompanying him Saturday. When I refused, he got violent and attempted to assault myself and Ruby. Thankfully Headmaster Ozpin was nearby and intervened."

Jacques grunted. "I see. Well, I will certainly be pushing for Cardin to be severely punished. Was either of you hurt?"

"Thankfully, neither one of them was injured." Ozpin smiled as he stepped out of his office. "Forgive my delay, Cardin's father had… quite a lot to say about today's events and, unfortunately, Miss Schnee's character, none of which I wish to repeat. Mister Schnee, I have already placed Cardin on suspension and will be convening the school's board of directors to discuss his expulsion. If you like, I can notify you of when the board will be meeting. Now, if you and Weiss will step into my office, Mister Schnee."

Now Ruby was left sitting alone, waiting. She was pretty sure she and Weiss wouldn't be in too much trouble, would they? Cardin had started it, being such a big jerk! But maybe Ruby should have encouraged Weiss to stand up to him sooner. She sighed. Being a grownup was really complicated but it came with good stuff too. Like girlfriends, and kissing.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice someone sitting next to her. "Hey, kiddo, hear you got into a scrap."

Ruby blinked and looked up. "Oh, hi, dad. No, not really. Cardin was being a big jerk, telling Weiss she was his and going on a date with him Saturday whether he liked it or not. She told him off and he got grabby, and then she tripped him but the headmaster showed up before things got really ugly." She chewed her lip and lowered her voice before continuing. "Oh, um, Weiss' dad knows about me and her now, did I remember to tell you that yesterday? But if he asks, you didn't know till last night, okay?"'

Taiyang laughed, ruffling Ruby's hair before she could stop him. "Don't worry, kiddo. I know a thing or two about keeping secrets. Where's Weiss?"

Before Ruby could answer, the office door opened and Mister Schnee stepped out. "Thank you, Headmaster Ozpin, and I appreciate your actions in this matter. Weiss, I'll take you home before I have to head back to the office. I think it may be time to re-evaluate the bank's involvement with Winchester Heavy Industries. Downward, and rather sharply."

Weiss glanced at Ruby. "I'd like to wait for Ruby, Father. We were going shopping today after school, after all. No need to let Cardin ruin our plans."

"We were?" Ruby blinked, puzzled. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, in all the fuss."

When Ruby left Ozpin's office, Weiss was waiting, playing on her phone. "Shopping?" Ruby asked, giving Weiss a look.

"I was planning on talking to you about it today, Cardin just got in the way. Plus it got me away from my father and gave me a chance to… check on something." Weiss stood and cleared her throat. "During our altercation, I… accidentally said I had plans Saturday with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, someone heard me, and it's all over the school's social media sphere. Half the school is saying it can't be true, and the other half is trying to figure out who my girlfriend is. You are one of the top candidates, as far as I can tell."

Ruby snorted. "Who're the other front-runners? I'm kinda curious about who."

This made Taiyang laugh. "Yeah, let's see who they think could win you away from my little girl. You can tell us on the way to the car."

"First runner-up goes to Blake and Yang, either individually or in varying combinations." This got a laugh from Ruby, who stifled it fast. That was prime sister-teasing material there. "Close behind that is Pyrrha, as if anything could ever pry her away from Jaune, and Nora, ditto for her and Ren. Penny gets some mention, as does Cinder, though I'd be willing to bet she started that herself or had Emerald or Mercury do so. Several people have 'outed' themselves as my one true love, to the derision of our peers. And," Weiss stopped as they reached the car, not sure how to put this. "there is a growing swell of support behind someone I can only call something of an underdog candidate: Chelsea Winchester."

"Cardin's baby sister?" Ruby asked as she opened the passenger door. "Oh, um, do you want to sit up front, Weiss? Since you're the guest and all. Plus you know where we're

'going shopping.'"

"The very same. I feel sorry for the poor girl; she's painfully shy in the first place, and this is only going to make things worse. Ruby, I need to ask you something important." Weiss reached forward and gave her girlfriend's shoulder a squeeze. "Are you going to be okay about everyone knowing about us? It might make things rough on you."

"I'm cool if you're cool, Weiss. Hell, post it on Spacebook if you want."

* * *

"Weiss?"

"Yes, Ruby?"

"This is a GameZone, not a fashion boutique."

"I know, Ruby, and I do buy things besides clothes." Weiss smiled. "Remember how I never played video games growing up because Father banned them from the house?"

"Yeah, you super-sucked at them. But you learned really, really fast, and you're pretty good at them now," Ruby added, at a glare from Weiss that quickly disintegrated into both of them laughing hysterically.

"Well," Weiss continued, wiping her eyes, "my father has relented. I am now permitted to buy myself a Switch and a few games. And there is a specific reason we are at this particular GameZone." With that, Weiss marched inside, straight up to the counter. "Hello, I'm Weiss Schnee, and you're supposed to be holding something for me?"

The clerk nodded. "Yep, got them both right here. You're lucky you called when you did, and insisted on paying for them over the phone. These were the last two we had, and someone came in trying to buy both of them not ten minutes after you called. Even tried to bribe the guy working. Probably planning on selling them online or something. Here you go."

Ruby's eyes got wide. "Is that _Grimm Reaper VII?_ I'm still saving money to buy it!"

"Not quite. These are, as far as I can tell, the last two copies of the Deluxe Collector's Edition of _Grimm Reaper VII_ for sale in the entire city, one for each of us. And a standard edition for Yang, so she's not bugging you to borrow yours all the time." Weiss leaned over and gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek, making Taiyang shake his head. "Ruby, I know you said not to buy things for you, especially not without asking first, but… can we break the rules, just this once? Please?"

It took Ruby a minute to respond. She was too busy staring at the box, with the resin statuette of the game's main character, Maria Calavera, battling a Nevermore. "Weiss, I don't know what to say. It, it's so expensive."

"And you're worth every Lien. Please, Ruby, for me?" Weiss gave Ruby one of her special smiles, the genuine ones that Ruby brought out in her so often.

"Fiiine," Ruby said with feigned reluctance, getting a chuckle from her dad. "But only on the condition that we go to my house so I can get started wiping the floor with you."

"In your dreams"

"Oh, it's so on."

* * *

"I hear you got into a fight at school today, sister."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Not a fight, exactly. Cardin Winchester decided I was his property. I disagreed, he got aggressive, and now Cardin might be getting expelled." _Thank the Maidens._

"That's unfortunate, I thought you and he had-" Whitley stopped, at a loss for words. "Is that your game console? It's rather small, isn't it?"

"It is, and its portability is one of the reasons I wanted this one." Weiss spared a moment to envy the collection of consoles at Ruby's house. Some of them were older than Weiss.

"Is that where you were tonight, buying that? I wondered why you were home so late." Whitley took a step toward where the Switch lay on Weiss' desk, regarding it curiously.

"No, after the incident with Cardin, they let me have the rest of the day off, so my girlfriend and I went and bought this, plus some games, and then we went to her house and played for a while." Inside her head, Weiss started counting. _Five, four, three, two, one…_

"Oh, she was teaching you to-_girlfriend?" _Whitley spluttered.

"Yes, Whitley, I have a girlfriend, please try to keep up." She was fighting to keep a straight face now, her brother's expression was absolutely _priceless._

"Father will be furious if he finds out." Now Whitley was back to his usual self, trying to figure out how to use this against her.

"Father already knows, and he's even met her."

"I see." Whitley's expression was the definition of the word 'perplexed' if Weiss had ever seen it. "Weiss, may I ask one favor? Can I play on your, I'm sorry, I don't know what kind it is?"

"It's called a Switch, and no, you can't. Now please leave, I've had a long day and I'm going to bed early."

"But-"

"Go. Now."


	3. Shots Fired

It was the not-staring that was the worst part of it. Well, that ad the whispering.

Ruby stopped as she picked up her lunch tray, reflexively scanning the crowded dining hall for her sister, or her friends, or best of all, Weiss. As she did so, she caught people glancing her way, then turning away and whispering when they saw her notice them. Honestly, some outright staring might have been better. Curiosity she could wrap her head around. It wasn't every day that they found out that the school princess was dating a social zero like Ruby. Well, she wasn't a complete zero, she needed both hands to count her real friends at school after all, even if she didn't count Weiss or Yang, or Blake, but Ruby was nowhere near as popular as Weiss.

Well, today Ruby was the same Ruby she'd been the day before, it was just that people knew something about her today that they hadn't known a week ago. Big flippin' deal. The brunette squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and headed toward where she'd just spotted Yang.

"I honestly feel sorry for Weiss."

The comment barely registered on Ruby's attention, and she almost turned to see who'd said it, before she recognized the voice and decided to just keep walking and ignore it.

"After all," the voice continued, getting louder and more insistent if anything, "the only reason I can think she'd be dating Ruby is out of pity. Poor thing must have thought she'd died and gone to heaven when Weiss showed interest in her. It's only a matter of time before Weiss gets tired of Ruby and decides to move on to someone more… appropriate for her."

"Oh, I don't know, Cinder," a voice drawled from a couple of tables in front of Ruby. "I mean, Ruby's got at least one thing going for her that you don't."

"Oh?" Cinder turned her head, trying to figure out who'd dared interrupt her. "And what would that be?"

"Well, for one thing, Ruby doesn't have a reputation for being a nasty whore."

A bubble of silence spread from the speaker's words, and Ruby's jaw almost hit the floor when she realized who'd spoken. Mercury Black, perpetually one step short of expulsion and normally Cinder Fall's number two sycophant (ooh, Ruby would have to remember that one for Weiss), was sitting there, half-turned away from Cinder and pointedly ignoring her as he dug into his lunch. Ruby wished she could capture the look on Cinder's face, shifting between outrage and confusion and back again. It was _priceless._

"Hey, Mercury, I think you've got that wrong." Jaune was fighting a grin as he set an ice cream sundae in front of Pyrrha. "A whore gets paid. I'm pretty sure Cinder just gives it away."

Now Cinder's face was locked on fury. _"You little worm-"_

_Splat._

Ruby couldn't help but giggle. The sundae Jaune had just deposited in front of Pyrrha was now splattered across Cinder's face, ice cream and chocolate sauce dripping down and oozing down the front of her uniform. And to top it off, the literal cherry on the sundae was stuck on the end of Cinder's nose by whipped cream. It had been a _big_ sundae.

Cinder stood there, mouth opening and closing with shock, and Ruby couldn't help but stand there and stare until she found her voice. "Uh, Cinder, I think your makeup's running. Might want to take care of that." Dammit, she was not going to laugh. Or smile. That would be mean, even if Cinder did deserve it.

Laughter erupted, sending Cinder fleeing with a shriek. Ruby smiled as she found a seat next to Pyrrha. "Nice shot," she whispered. Ruby was kid of ashamed at feeling glad over what her friend had done, but she figured it was karma. Cinder was always being nasty to everyone after all.

"Jaune's idea," the redhead said with a smirk.

"No big deal," the blonde said with a laugh. "I would have done it, but Pyrrha's got better aim."

"Oh, I don't know," Pyrrha said smiling. "It's got you a date Saturday night, assuming you're not too busy."

Jaune sat there with a look on his face like someone had slapped him across the face with a fish. "Not funny, Pyrrha. We're friends, yeah, but there's no way you'd ever be interested in an idiot like me." He started to stand up, only to find a hand firmly planted on each shoulder, shoving him back down.

"Jaune Arc, you are an even bigger dolt than I thought you were." Weiss leaned down, grabbing the sides of Jaune's head and turning him to look at where Pyrrha sat, her face heartbroken. "Pyrrha has been crushing on you, hard, since sophomore year, and everyone knew it but you-"

"Freshman year," Pyrrha interrupted softly. Weiss just nodded at the correction and carried on.

"-and now that she's finally worked up the nerve to do something about it, you tore out her heart and stomped it flat, all out of your own insecurities. Tell me, have you _ever_, in all four years you've been at Beacon, seen Pyrrha go on a date with anyone? Or for that matter, even be reliably rumored to be interested in anyone? And you," again one of those finely manicured hands came down, this time on Pyrrha's shoulder, "are going to _sit there_ while this dolt thinks things over. Excuse me." And with that, Weiss gave Ruby a quick kiss before depositing her tray next to her.

Pyrrha blinked, the surprise breaking her out of her funk. "So, so it's true? You and Ruby are..."

"Yeah." Ruby intertwined her hand with Weiss's, glad they were both left-handed so she didn't interfere with Weiss eating. "Have been for a while, we were just keeping it quiet."

"I assumed my father would not understand. But he is being accepting of our relationship, or at least pretending to be," Weiss finished with a grimace. "Oh, that reminds me, Ruby. The reason I was late to lunch was Father called. He wants me to attend an art exhibition with him on Saturday, and asked if you would come."

Ruby blinked. "Trap?" she asked.

"Definite trap," Weiss said, nodding.

"I don't get it," Jaune said, giving his head a quick shake.

"My father accepted my relationship with Ruby far to easily, without more than a token protest. I even told him about Yang's mother, and all he wanted to know was how much Yang had with her." Weiss shook her head. "So we're going on the assumption that my father is playing some sort of twisted game. What the game is, we're not sure," Weiss said, stabbing violently into her salad and lifting a forkful to her mouth. Hmm, it may be time to give her father a poke of her own…

* * *

Jacques Schnee frowned as he approached the room where Weiss and her friends were playing their 'game.' When Weiss had explained that it was well past her turn to host their weekly session, he'd expected something more sober than the laughter and chatter he heard coming from inside. Quietly he opened the door just enough to listen in.

"-and that's the dracolich's turn. Okay, Weiss, you're up," came Ruby's voice from within. With a small smile, Jacques opened the door and stepped inside. He might not know what game they were playing, but it would be interesting to see how his daughter played.

"Right. Well, I'm half-dead, but I think there's enough of me left to use this thing's ribcage for a xylophone." That drew a laugh from some of the other players, and with a smile, Weiss reached forward and moved a figurine of some sort toward a larger skeletal figurine, some sort of dinosaur perhaps. "Okay, I'm moving up and hitting the dracolich." She picked up a plastic object of some sort and tossed it onto the table with a flick of her wrist. "Natural twenty, for a critical hit. And," his daughter's smile took on a smug aspect, "I still have a third level spell slot left to use for divine smite. So let's see, that's one date for my sword, four date for the smite, and one more date because it's undead, for a total of six date which doubles to twelve date." Sighing, Weiss reached for a bowl full of brightly colored objects in the middle of the table. "I'm going to have to dig deeply into the dice of shame. But I believe the appropriate expression is, 'Here comes the pain train.'" Laughing, a blonde woman next to Weiss helped her fish through the bowl.

"I take it that you've done well?" Jacques' question made everyone jump, especially Weiss.

"F-Father," she stammered, "I wasn't expecting you to visit us. And yes, I've done well. Our opponent has been dealt a mighty blow."

Her father frowned as he took in the scene around the table. Next to Weiss, a red-headed girl sat a little too close to a blonde young man, who cringed when he saw Jacques was looking at him. On the other side of the table sat two other girls with long hair, one blonde, the other with black hair. Iron control kept the distaste off his face as he noticed the feline ears on top of the black-haired girl's head. In the middle of the table books with colorful covers and papers lay scattered around a map of some sort with figurines on top of it. "What game is this you're playing, Weiss? It doesn't look like anything I'm familiar with."

"It's called 'Dungeons and Dragons,' father, and you might think of it as a form of cooperative storytelling. Ruby is the 'Dungeon Master,' and it's her role to set up the world and the situation. The rest of us each take on a role within that world, and we all work out what happens together."

"And how do you win?"

"You win if you're telling a good story and all having fun, sir," Ruby said, scratching the back of her head nervously.

Jacques gave a small shrug. It didn't make any sense to him. "As long as you're enjoying yourselves, I suppose. Who are all your friends, Weiss? Other than Ruby, of course."

"Father, these are Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby's sister Yang, and Blake," the white-haired girl said, gesturing at each in turn. "Normally there would be two more of us, but Ren is ill and Nora didn't want to come without him."

Her father blinked. Now he recognized the red-headed girl. "Pyrrha Nikos, the model? Aren't you a little old for this?"

Pyrrha laughed. "Weiss is two weeks older than me. We and I know each other from school. It's tough, juggling a modeling career with school, but I'm determined to stick it out. I've done a lot of homework traveling."

"I admire your fortitude." He turned toward the black-haired young woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yang."

This made the blonde woman laugh. "Actually, I'm Yang, she's Blake."

"My apologies. I assumed, because of the black hair-"

"Yeah, lots of people don't think we're sisters. Dad really got clobbered in the genetic lottery. Ruby's a dead ringer for her mom, I look like a blonde version of mine." Yang shrugged. "Go figure, right?"

That brought Jacques' attention back to the Faunus girl. "Excuse me, Blake," he said, stressing the name slightly, "but have we met? You look familiar."

"You may know my father, sir. He's the Menagerie ambassador to Vale," Blake said, her feline ears flicking.

"And you, young man?" Jacques asked, laughing as he looked at Jaune. "As interesting as the rest of my daughter's friends are, you're not a teenage billionaire or something, are you?"

"M-Me, sir? I'm nobody special, just boring old Jaune," the blonde said, laughing nervously.

"He's being modest. Jaune already has a full-ride scholarship waiting for him, and a six-figure job offer," Pyrrha said, giving Jaune a peck on the cheek and making him even more flustered.

"You should be proud, young man. To have an offer of six figures at your age is something to be proud of," Jacques said, smiling as he made a note to himself to look into Jaune's background. "Well, I'll let you get back to your game, but don't stay up too late. Weiss and Ruby have a busy day tomorrow."

The six of them sat in subdued silence for a while after Weiss' father had left. "Creep," Yang said, shaking her head like she was trying to clear it.

Weiss made a face. "Yang, be nice. Nobody has the right to call my father a creep except me. Creep," she added, making everyone laugh.

"Are you two going to be okay tomorrow?" Yang asked quietly.

"Absolutely," Weiss said. "Remember, I've been teaching Ruby how to act at things like this for a while. She won't be perfect, but she'll make a better impression than my father expected her to. Plus Pyrrha and Blake will be there."

"Dad has been encouraging me to take in some culture lately," Blake said with such an overacted sigh that Yang couldn't help herself. Her hand darted out, fingers digging furiously into Blake's ribcage. "No-no fair," Blake gasped, "you're not ticklish," she added as she tried to swat her girlfriend's hands away.

"Not anywhere you're gonna get to in front of everyone," Yang said, laughing, then slapped herself on the forehead as she realized what she'd just said. This just made everyone laugh at the blonde's discomfort.

"Ahem," Ruby said, deciding to show some mercy on her sister. "If we can drag our minds out of the gutter? Weiss, I believe you were about to roll for damage…."

* * *

Ruby sighed and tried to look disinterested instead of bored out of her mind as she tilted her head to look at the painting. Honestly, abstract art had never been her thing, really, and this particular example looked like the artist's cat had barfed all over it. Well, maybe it had. Ruby had heard some crazy stories about things artists had done to produce their art.

"Bored?" Weiss whispered in Ruby's ear, making her jump.

"Mm-hmm," Ruby murmured, taking a sip of her ice water.

Weiss slid an arm around Ruby's waist, pulling her close, and Ruby leaned into her with a soft sigh of pleasure. "We're not sticking around all night, thankfully. I think we can stay for another hour and still make our reservation." Ruby smiled. Said 'reservation' was the den at her dad's place, for a four-way _Grimm Reaper VII_ death battle tournament with Blake and Yang. Weiss kissed Ruby gently on the cheek before moving her hand to give Ruby's an affectionate squeeze. "Now, I've got to go say hello and make nice with some of Father's business friends. Some of them have sons they've been trying to set me up with since I was in diapers; I'm wondering if they've heard I'm off the market yet."

"Mine," Ruby answered, her smirk making Weiss laugh as she turned to go.

After Weiss was out of sight, Ruby decided it was time for a breather. She stepped off to one side, putting a few displays between her and the crowd. Weiss had shown her how to act at things like this, but nothing had really prepared Ruby for the reality of how boring it was. Hours smiling and pretending to be interested in probably the most meaningless conversations in the world. Blech. Watching paint dry would be more interesting.

She sighed. Being with Weiss meant she'd have to learn to handle things like this, she supposed. Or at least endure them with good grace, although Ruby wasn't sure she'd ever actually enjoy them.

Was Weiss worth it? Her heart screamed _Yes!_ but a writhing knot of doubt in Ruby's stomach said otherwise. They came from very different worlds. Weiss' dad was probably one of the richest guys on Remnant, and made more money in a minute than Ruby's dad did all year. Ruby had grown up eating what was put in front of her without complaint because that was being served, and if you didn't like it, you had the option of going hungry.

No. Ruby's fists were clenched as she battled her own self-doubt. She wasn't sure if what she had with Weiss was going to last, or even if it was really love or whatever else it might be, but she was going to let her own doubts and fears keep her from seeing it through.

"You alright?"

Ruby jumped, startled as a voice shattered her little bubble of silence. She turned her head to see a guy about her age with a green mohawk standing there, hands held up in a sign of surrender. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to scare you. Saw you go off by yourself and thought I'd see if you were okay."

"Y-Yeah," Ruby answered, face flushed with embarrassment. "I just needed a minute."

"I get it. My dad drags me to these things every time if I can't come up with a good excuse not to come. I'm Russel, Russel Thrush, by the way. You go to Beacon, right? I think I recognize you from school, but I don't think I've caught your name." Russel took a step closer to Ruby, tilting his head as he smiled. "Man, you've got pretty eyes. I don't think I've ever met somebody with silver eyes before."

"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose. Yeah, silver eyes are kinda rare. My mom had them too, but it's supposed to be a recessive gene. Guess dad carries it too."

"You know, I could use a break from this nonsense myself. Mind if I keep you company for a minute?" Russel made as if he was going to lay a hand on Ruby's arm, but before he could complete the motion, her other hand snapped out and grabbed onto his wrist. "Hey, what gives? I'm just trying to be friendly." Russel asked, trying to wrench free of Ruby's iron grip.

"You dropped something in my drink," Ruby snarled, tightening her grip. "Wonder what it was? Bet it wasn't anything I wanted there, so I think I'm gonna hold on until we get security over here. Wonder what you've got in your pockets, too. Security!" she yelled, pitching her voice to carry.

"You're seeing things. Let go of me!" Russel yelled, fighting to get away from Ruby even as she dug in her heels. "Dammit, she's got me. Sky get rid of it!" He fished in his pockets awkwardly pulled out a pill bottle, tossing it toward a boy with dark blue hair that came running around the corner.

Shoving Russel aside, Ruby ran towards Sky, hoping she could wrestle the pills away from him. He dodged away from her, fumbling the catch. The bottle bounced off Sky and Ruby's outstretched hands, rolling away.

A black leather lady's shoe came down on the wayward bottle, bringing it to a decisive halt. Ruby's gaze traveled upward to see who had come to her rescue. An older woman with not only white hair but white skin stared back at her from behind the darkest sunglasses Ruby had ever seen. Her complexion was even paler against the black old-fashioned dress she wore. "As much as I despise these types of gatherings," the woman said in an annoyed tone, "I despise disturbances at them even more. And I despise men who try to take advantage of women most of all. No matter what age the parties involved are. Are you in some distress, young lady?"

"You bet your bustle, ma'am!" Ruby said, checking her glass and finding it miraculously still half-full. "That one," she pointed at Russel, dropped something in my drink. All I've got is ice water, so it shouldn't fizz, right? And when I called him on it, he tried to ditch that pill bottle you're standing on."

"Ruby, what's the meaning of this commotion?" Jacques said as he came around the corner, Weiss barely half a step behind him.

"The meaning, dear Jacques, is that this young man, decided to try something he shouldn't have, and Ruby caught him out on it." The white-skinned woman frowned as a man wearing a badly-fitted suit came in sight. "Well, better late than never, I suppose. Here, take this, but mind your fingers, we may want fingerprints." She lifted her foot so the security guard could pick up the bottle with a handkerchief. "Young Russel over there apparently attempted to drug Ruby, but she spotted it and yelled for help. A quite resourceful and quick-thinking young lady."

"Yes, I see, "Jacques mused as he glared at Russel.

"Are you okay, Ruby? He didn't do anything, did he?" Weiss asked as she brushed a stray hair out of Ruby's face.

"Pfft, I'm fine, he didn't get much past drugging my drink," Ruby said, batting Weiss' hand away with a smile. "Oh, we might want to hand this over to the cops. Probably some of whatever he was slipping me in there."

"Uh, do we have to call the cops? I mean, no harm, no foul, right?" Russel said, backing away.

Jacques glared at him, and Ruby could see where Weiss had picked up hers. It was probably genetic. "Young man, I don't know what reason you had for this, but I assure you, the police are definitely going to be involved. I absolutely insist on it."

* * *

"Thanks for helping me out back there, ma'am. I don't think anyone would have believed me if you hadn't backed me up. I, um, I don't think I got your name, Mrs…?"

"It's Salem, most people call me Miss Salem because I never actually managed to marry, much to my regret. And you're welcome," Salem said, bowing her head slightly and toasting Ruby with her drink. "I despise men who try things like those young men tried with you this afternoon. And in the end, I'm rather glad I did. It let me put a face to a name, one I was rather interested to meet."

"I don't understand," Ruby said, giving Weiss a confused look.

Salem chuckled. "I believe you know my granddaughter, Cinder. She's been in an absolute fury for days, and I was curious to know who had managed to make her so angry. Oh, don't worry," she added as Weiss and Ruby both took a step back, "I don't intend to involve myself in whatever high school drama there is between the three of you. Just between the three of us, I think it would do Cinder some good to get thoroughly trounced. She's always been an envious, spiteful girl, for which I blame her mother."

"Cinder.. never mentions her family, as far as I know," Weiss said, carefully.

"Not surprising. The only family she has left is me and her uncle, and she hates both of us. The feeling is mutual. If it wasn't for some vague vestige of familial affection, I wouldn't have taken her in after her mother's death." Salem shrugged. "Now, merely for my own amusement, what did the two of you do to infuriate Cinder so?"

"A few days ago, it became public knowledge that Ruby and I are dating. Cinder tried to use it to put me down, and it backfired," Weiss said with a sigh.

"Ah, would that be the reason I had to bring her a fresh uniform? Good. Keep it up. Maybe Cinder will learn something from this, but I doubt it. I look forward to our next meeting." And with that, Salem made her exit, chuckling softly.

"She puts me in mind of, um, I don't know, a boa constrictor or something. All nice and slow, but before you realize it, she's got you in your clutches," Ruby said, shaking her head.

"Miss Salem is, to be frank, a nasty old bitch. Which makes it very surprising that she would save you, Ruby," Weiss said with a sigh. "Come on, video games await. I'll have Hazel drop us at your house. I'll even let you pick who I play the first round."


	4. Strike a Pose

Ruby knew she had a goofy grin on her face as she made her way up the sidewalk towards the front gate of Beacon. After what happened to her Saturday at the exhibition, Weiss' father had understood when she wanted to make sure Ruby was alright. He'd even let Weiss stay at Ruby's later than normal, although staying overnight had been forbidden. Weiss had grudgingly agreed, then raced back over Sunday morning as early as she could. It was the biggest block of together time they'd ever been able to manage, and all it had taken was some asshat deciding to slip something into Ruby's drink.

Weiss was waiting for her just outside the gate. "Did you sleep better last night? You had me worried, yesterday morning."

"Yeah, a lot better," Ruby answered, giving Weiss a heartfelt smile as she took Weiss' outstretched hand. Ruby had barely slept Saturday night, and when she'd passed out from sheer exhaustion, her dreams had been haunted by leering images of the boys from the exhibition. "Come on, let's head inside." Deciding that they could probably both use a little reassurance, Ruby pulled Weiss close and gave her a kiss the lips. A couple of passing students made rude comments, and she would have bet money at least one of them snapped a picture, but in that moment, Ruby didn't care. When they pulled away, Ruby was glad to see that the worry had been banished from Weiss' pale blue eyes. "See? I'm fine. Now let's go, before we're late to class," she said, pulling Weiss toward the front door with a laugh.

When they reached Ruby's locker, Assistant Headmaster Goodwitch was standing there with one of the security guards, Hazel. "Miss Rose, this is your locker, correct? Please open it."

"S-Sure," Ruby said, wondering what the fuss was about. She spun the dial in a practiced motion, then tried to open the door. Frowning, she repeated the motion, then did it two more times. "It-It's not opening, I don't know why."

"Open it," Goodwitch said sharply to Hazel. He grunted and pulled the keys from his belt, trying several before stepping back.

"No good," Hazel said before stepping back. "Something's wrong with the lock. We'll have to get a janitor."

Goodwitch pushed her glasses up her nose, a frown on her face. "Call for one of them. Miss Rose, when you left Friday afternoon, your locker opened correctly, yes?"

Ruby nodded. "Yep, the lock worked just fine. Why, what's this about?"

"This morning, the headmaster's office received an anonymous email making certain allegations against you. It included images supporting the allegations and stated that further evidence could be found in your locker. The allegations are of a nature that the administration is forced to look into them. You will remain here until we can open your locker. Miss Schnee, you are free to go," Goodwitch finished, hoping Weiss would take the hint.

"No," Weiss answered, shaking her head. "I am sure that Ruby is innocent of whatever she's accused of and I want to stay."

The four of them stood in silence, Ruby's mind whirling as they waited. She'd called her dad to let him know what was going on, and he'd insisted they wait for him. Finally, Taiyang arrived. "Alright, what's going on here? What's Ruby being accused of?"

Goodwitch looked around, making sure the hallway was clear of errant students. "The email we received accused Ruby of being a prostitute, one that specializes in BDSM. The attached images were… quite explicit."

"That's nonsense!" Taiyang snapped, taking a step toward Goodwitch. "Ruby would never do that!"

"That's right!" Weiss squeezed Ruby's hand, unable to believe what she'd just heard. "I mean, Ruby and I haven't even, um well, you know! Been together yet," the white-haired heiress said, her face flushed with embarrassment. Ruby just nodded frantically.

"I am inclined to agree, Miss Schnee, Miss Rose, Mister Xiao Long, but we do have to take allegations like this seriously. Open it," Goodwitch said to the janitor. He nodded and carefully removed the lock.

The door burst open, spilling its contents into the hallway. Ruby and Weiss stepped back, their mouths open with shock. Revealing clothing, whips, other things Weiss couldn't have named were strewn about. A knobby black rod of some sort landed on Ruby's foot and she bent down to pick it up, then tossed it away when she realized what it was. "It-It's not mine!" she squeaked, unable to force anything more out.

"On that, I am inclined to believe you. If for no other reason than if you'd had these many questionable items in your locker Friday, someone would have noticed. The lock not opening is another indication. We will notify the police immediately. Well, officially that is," Goodwitch added glancing at Taiyang. "A few items would have been incriminating but plausible. This… this is amateurish."

* * *

"So this," Detective Port gestured at the stack of schoolbooks, gym clothes, and a few Dungeons and Dragons books, "this is yours, you remember it being in your locker when you left Friday. The rest of it is not yours, and you haven't seen it before."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I know what it is, some of it at least, but it's not mine, and it wasn't there Friday when I left."

"And how do you know what those things are, young lady?" Taiyang asked, giving his daughter a disbelieving look.

She rolled her eyes. "It's called the internet, dad, duh."

Jacques Schnee shook his head. (And how had he gotten called into this?) "I am somewhat more concerned about the images that came with the email. Miss Rose, you are certain those could not be you?"

"No way," Ruby said, her head jerking back and forth. "I've never worn anything like that, and her, uh, well you know-" she gestured at her chest, "are, um, way bigger than mine."

Weiss couldn't help but laugh. Ruby was cute when she was flustered. "You are allowed to use the word breasts, Ruby. Or boobs,if must be crude. But I think there's empirical evidence that the woman in the photos is not Ruby. For one thing, she's missing your scar from the surgery you had freshman year."

"Oh yeah, it's not there!" When most of the adults in the room gave her a blank look, Ruby added, "I had surgery freshman year for an intestinal blockage. Got a scar and everything. See?" Ruby reached down and started to lift up her shirt, but her dad grabbed her arm. "What, I was just going to show them my scar."

Port guffawed. "Ah, the energy of youth. Miss Rose, I think we can take your word about the scar. As for the rest, I think our criminal has made a significant error." Port reached into the pile and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. "If I'm not mistaken, this looks like an invoice."

* * *

"Oh, man, that totally sucks," Jaune said as they sat in the courtyard during the mid-morning break. "Whatcha gonna do?"

Ruby shrugged. "Let the cops handle it, I guess. I don't know how to figure it out."

"It, ah, it's worse than that." Pyrrha sat down next to Jaune. "There are pictures all over Spacebook. Posted in some of the Beacon student groups. They get taken down as soon as an admin notices, but..."

"It's all over the school," Weiss said with a sigh. Pyrrha just bit her lip and nodded.

"I say we find whoever did this and break their legs!"

"Gah! Nora!" Jaune sighed. "Look, uh, I know a way to find out something, but, um, you have to keep it a secret. And we're probably going to have to ditch class."

* * *

"Okay, I think you need to explain some, Jaune," Weiss said as they rode the elevator upward. "Why do you have an access badge for the VBI? Who do you know here?"

"Probation," Jaune answered grimly as the doors opened.

"Hey, Jaune, didn't expect to see you today." A woman with purple hair looked up from a desk. "Much less hear you needed a favor. Normally you don't show up unless we make you come."

"Yeah, Lisa, but, um, somebody's trying some shady shit on a friend of mine, so," Jaune took a deep breath, "I'm willing to work a trade, to help her out."

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

With a sigh, Jaune sat in an empty chair, running his hands through his hair. "Remember that full-ride scholarship and the six-figure job? Well, when I was thirteen, I kinda crashed the Vale stock exchange, because I thought it was funny."

"And a few other things," Lisa added. "Sorry, I'll let you tell it."

"So ever since, I've been on probation. I work with the VBI, and, um, other folks, trying to break into computer systems to find out if it can be done, and how. What they call white-hat hacking. It's part of my probation. And why I don't have a cell phone," Jaune finished, looking down.

"They really should let you have at least a basic phone. The luddites," Lisa said, shaking her head. "Now what's got you horse-trading with me, Jaune?"

Ten minutes later, Lisa leaned back in her seat. "Okay, yeah, posting that kind of stuff online is at least six or seven kinds of illegal, especially give Ruby's age, and definitely a VBI issue. I'll give this Detective Port a call and offer my assistance, tell him someone tipped me off. But first," her eyes turned to Jaune and she crossed her arms. "I take it you want to do some digging yourself and use our setup to do it, probably with my help. Done, with minimal payback on your end. I'm a sucker for young love, and this sort of grade-school bullshit pisses me off. Let's get to work."

"Okay," Jaune said an hour later, stretching his arms above his head. "I, acting as an independent consultant for the VBI, and totally not Ruby's friend, hereby decree the following: This is utter bullshit. The Spacebook profile posting the pics didn't exist three days ago. Their profile pic is somebody else's from five years ago and not a current student at Beacon. Over the weekend they joined a bunch of student groups, made a few 'Hey, I'm here posts' to satisfy admins. Then, this morning, about the time the stuff I the locker was being discovered, they started posting the pictures. Not the same ones in every group, but enough variety to keep things interesting. The admins have since taken down the pictures and kicked them out, but Spacebook keeps everything, even the stuff you delete. The posts were made using a pay as you go cellphone, from a part of downtown Vale that includes Beacon Academy. Said phone is currently not on the network, probably from being turned off. How'd I do?" Jaune said, looking up at Lisa."

"I think you've got the gist of it, but we'll go over the finer points later. While you were working that angle, I took a look at the pictures. They're photoshopped alright, and not even good photoshop. Really amateur stuff." Lisa reached for the phone on her desk. "I think we'd better call Detective Port now."

* * *

Qrow sighed as he sat down at the window. He really, really didn't want to do what he was about to do. But he'd promised Tai a long time ago, and it was time to make good on that promise. Gritting his teeth, he reached out and picked up the telephone. "Hello, Raven. You look like shit."

His sister glared at him through the glass. "You're not Taiyang. Where is he?"

"Busy. He couldn't take the time off on such short notice. Being a police captain's busy work. But I promised him a long time ago that if you got ahold of him, I'd be the one to come talk to you. So here I am. Spill, or I walk." Qrow leaned back as best the bench would allow, starting to reach for his cigarettes but remembering in the nick of time the no smoking sign.

"So you've been in contact with Tai this whole time. You never bothered to tell me. Or visit, or write, or, well anything." Raven scowled at him.,

"Yep. Helped him take care of the daughter you dumped on his lap, too." Qrow leaned forward, his fist slamming down on the counter. "About whom you have not said one word, despite you saying this was about her."

"Fine. I'll get to the point. A couple of days ago, I got a visitor. He got a private visiting room by saying he was a lawyer from one of those groups that go over old cases, making sure justice was served, that kind of thing."

He couldn't help it, he burst out laughing. "Not much chance of getting you off the hook, if you ask me."

Raven's crimson eyes flashed with anger. "That's cold, Qrow, really cold."

"Hey, if the shoe fits-" he answered with a shrug.

Ignoring his comment, his sister continued. "Funny thing was, once he had me alone, he didn't want to talk about my case. He wanted to ask about Sparrow."

"Don't know anyone named Sparrow."

"Sorry, Taiyang changed her name, didn't he. To Yang. And you let him get away with it." Now it was Raven's turn to lean back, glaring at him.

Another shrug. "By the time I tracked him down, it was already done. Wasn't going to deny the man that. Go on."

"He wanted to know all sorts of stupid shit, how much contact I'd had with her, letters, visits, that kind of thing. Told him I hadn't heard shit in seventeen years, except that one time I wrote her and she wrote back telling me to piss off. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you brother dear?"

"Nope." Qrow shook his head with a chuckle. "Tai just laid everything out for her, in between the two of them screaming at each other for two hours. In the end, he just looked her in the eye and said it was up to her what she wanted to do. " He smiled. "And I guess you know how that worked out."

"Fair enough. Then he asked me about another name, one I didn't know. Who's 'Ruby Rose,' and what does she have to do with Sparrow?" Raven leaned forward, watching her brother for his reaction.

Qrow frowned, flipped a mental coin. When it landed on edge, he decided on honesty. "Ruby is _Yang's_ half-sister, two years younger. What'd the shithead want to know?"

"Lots of stuff, to which the answer was, 'I don't know, because I don't know who she is," Raven smirked. "For a favor, I'll give you a full transcript. You know how good my memory is. Two favors, actually."

Dammit. Raven's memory was damn near perfect. Qrow had no doubt she could remember every time he'd they'd shared a contraband cigarette in high school. "What favors?"

"First, I want to see a picture of… Yang," Raven said gritting her teeth at the last word. "I haven't seen her since right after she was born, I'd like to know what she looks like now. One of this 'Ruby' too, now that I think about it.

"And the other?"

"I want to know what's so important about Ruby that someone sent the shithead to talk to me. He was a lot more interested in her, all things considered."

Thirty minutes later, Qrow was back in the visitor's area. "Okay, you get your favors. Yang's kinda pissed, but you get your pictures. One each, sorry if the girls look kinda pissed in them, Ruby's had a rough day, and Yang hates being reminded you're not dead."

Raven studied the pictures on Qrow's phone through the glass. "Well, I can say that Yang gets her looks from me. She looks just like I did at her age, but blonde. Ruby… Ruby doesn't look like much, does she?"

Qrow laughed. Maybe he ought to come see his sister more often. She sure as hell was making him laugh today. "Trust me, she's got the heart of a lioness. Does not know the meaning of the word 'quit' when it comes to her friends or family. And as for what might make her interesting-" Qrow glanced left and right, then leaned toward the glass. "You remember Jacques Schnee, head of Schnee Bank? Well, Ruby's dating his younger daughter."

Raven snorted. "Yeah, I remember that asshole. He was one of the people I really wanted to die that night. Dangerous ground, little brother. Jacques Schnee is not a man to cross if you can help it. Watch your ass, and tell everyone else to watch their ass too."

"Will do, little sister."

* * *

Weiss stopped as they walked up the sidewalk to Ruby's house. "Ruby, I need to ask you something. Promise you won't be mad?" Ruby nodded, her face worried. "Ruby, does it bother you that, um we haven't, you know, done it yet?"

Ruby blinked, then smiled, her cheeks as red as her namesake. "Weiss, um, no, what brought this up?"

The white-haired girl bit her lip, looking away. "Ruby, it's just… we've been dating over a year, and well… I know we said we'd wait till we were both ready but… What if we wait too long?"

"What, no, Weiss, if you want to-"

"That's just it! I… don't want to, not yet. But if you want to, maybe…. Look, I'm not sure. But seeing your face on those pictures, it made me wonder." Weiss took a deep breath. "Not about, about sex, exactly, but… just what it would be like, waking up next to you."

Ruby sighed with relief. Thank the Maidens. "Yeah, me too, sometimes. And sometimes, I wonder what it would be like, with you." She wrapped her arms around Weiss, hugging her tight, then pulled back, silver meeting pale blue. "Okay, maybe we are, you know, getting to that point. Almost. Maybe. We'll talk about it. And we'll have to be more discrete than my sister."

Weiss laughed. "Oh no, what did she do?"

"Weiss..." Ruby looked her girlfriend dead in the eye. "Yang's room is right next to dad's."

"Oh no." Weiss' eyes went wide. "Now I understand the rule about overnight guests."

"Yeah." Ruby's gave Weiss' hand a squeeze. "I love you, and we'll work this out."

Weiss nodded and leaned into Ruby, their lips meeting in mutual relief.


	5. Answers and Secrets

"Looking forward to seeing your girlfriend again, sister?"

Her brother's words brought Weiss's thought's back to where she was with a jerk. Whitley just smirked at her smugly, knowing he'd caught her daydreaming. The worst part about it was, his words had been right on target.

There had been a three-day weekend at Beacon Academy, and Weiss had looked forward to spending it with Ruby. Vale Community College was putting on a horror film festival, and the two of them shared a love of classic horror films. Slasher flicks were a definite 'No.' But instead Weiss' father had hauled her back to Atlas for the weekend, taking her and her brother on an inspection tour of the construction site for their company's newest plant. Weiss had told Ruby to go to the film festival without her but she'd refused. At least until Weiss had told her that one of their favorite old-school directors was not only still alive and in Vale, but was planning on attending. Then Weiss had oh-so-sweetly asked Ruby to get her autograph on Weiss's vintage poster from the director's first film.

Ruby's resistance had crumbled instantly.

They'd called every night, of course, but this was the furthest and longest they'd been apart in over a year, and it just wasn't the same. The net result left Weiss seriously missing Ruby. A shiver ran up Weiss' arms as she remembered the last kiss Ruby had given her just before she got on the plane. They had both lingered in that kiss, neither one of them wanting to be apart, but eventually, it had been Weiss that yielded to the growing impatience she could feel practically rolling off her father and pulled away. Whitley had used it as an excuse to tease Weiss mercilessly the entire weekend.

Well, it was time for some revenge of her own, if a touch petty. Weiss dipped her hand into her carryon bag, pulling out her Switch and turning it on. Ruby and she were on a competitive achievement hunt, and Weiss had committed herself to earning the 'Not a Scratch' achievement on a particular boss. At maximum difficulty.

"Weiss."

She stopped, headphones in her hand, to look at her father. "Yes, Father? What is it?"

"Before you put your headphones in, I wanted to ask if you've heard anything about those wretched pictures. Has Detective Port reported any progress to you?" Father looked up from the tablet he was reading on, one eyebrow raised.

"Sadly, no. He's either playing this fairly close to the chest or he hasn't made any progress. I do know that the items from Ruby's locker were delivered to one of those package stores, the kind where you rent a mailbox and they'll accept small packages for you. He asked where I was when they were picked up, and if I knew where Ruby was." Weiss swallowed nervously. "It was the day of the exhibition, but by then Ruby and I had left at her house. He showed me a picture from the package store's security camera, but the woman was wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled up and I couldn't recognize her. I do know the clerk at the package store said the woman had dark skin and red eyes."

"Red eyes," Jacques muttered, thinking carefully. "That's rather uncommon, if not quite as rare as Ruby's silver."

"I know a dozen or so people at school with the trait," Weiss replied. Including one girl in particular who'd have an excellent reason to plant the items in Ruby's locker. "I do know that the images are being posted more frequently and they're getting more… daring."

"Daring?"

"The acts being depicted are more extreme, and pictures featuring my likeness are being added as well," Weiss answered with a laugh. "Sadly, the quality of the work continues to be poor. Beacon's photography club is having a field day pointing out the flaws. Unofficially of course." She took a deep breath. "I do have a… limited window into the VBI's investigation. The pictures are being posted from a pre-paid cellphone, either from Beacon Academy or somewhere very nearby, and the phone is taken off the network when not being used to post pictures, probably by removing the battery."

Her father's face hardened. "I don't like that they're adding you to their list of targets, Weiss. I hate asking this of you, but… it might be appropriate to distance yourself from Ruby until this matter is settled."

"No." The word slipped out, harshly enough to make Father blink. "I will not abandon her. Not for this. Not when she..." Weiss trailed off, turning her head to look out the window at the moonlit clouds below, not wanting her father to see the tears in her eyes.

"Not when she what?" His words were quiet, lacking either the harshness or false joviality she'd come to expect from him, and the difference startled Weiss enough that she answered him without thinking about it.

"Not after Ruby was there for me, after mother… did what she did."

If her father's face had been hard before, now it was carved from granite. A little over a year ago, Willow Schnee had taken her own life, leaping from the balcony of her third-story bedroom to land on the tiles of the patio, killing her instantly. "A dark day for us all," Jacques murmured, and for once, Weiss thought she could hear a tiny sliver of pain in her father's voice. "Your mother had been unwell for some time, and I had hoped she was getting better, healing, And then..." He shook his head. "A dark day for us all," her father repeated, turning his attention back to his tablet.

* * *

For once, Ruby was the one waiting at Beacon's gates for Ruby. "Weiiisss," Ruby wailed, glomping onto her girlfriend. "You don't know how much I missed you."

"Dolt," Weiss snapped as she futilely tried to disentangle herself from Ruby, but there was little force behind it. Weiss was still uncomfortable with touching and being touched, but she reveled in every moment of contact with Ruby. "Probably about as much as I missed you. How was the film festival?"

"Great!" Ruby's excitement flashed in her eyes for a moment, then collapsed when she remembered that Weiss hadn't been there. "I wish you could have been there. Oh! I got your poster signed, and it's back in the frame. I left it at home because I didn't want it getting damaged."

"Thank you," Weiss said, smiling as she tenderly brushed a stray hair out of Ruby's face. "I've got a surprise for you too. Father let me drive myself to school today. And," she added, drawing out the moment, "he said he'd understand if I wasn't home until late tonight."

"Wow." Ruby whistled. "Really loosening the leash, isn't he? I'm still betting on some sort of head game or trap, though."

"Mm. He did raise suggest that I distance myself from you for a while, because of the pictures."

Ruby stopped, looking up at Weiss with fear in her eyes. "You-you didn't-"

"I refused." Weiss pulled Ruby close, meeting Ruby's silver eyes with her own pale blue, letting her see the resolve there. "You held me close when I wanted to close myself off, curl up in a corner and wait to die. And you didn't ask anything, you were just there, letting me know you'd be there as long as I needed you. That means more to me than you can ever know."

"Heeey lovebirds." There was a forced cheerfulness in Yang's voice, and the wide grin on her face didn't reach her eyes. "Now now, there's school regulations about public displays of affection. Wouldn't want the queen of the school to lose her crown in her last year."

"What-?" Weiss started to ask, but Ruby just shook her head. "Her and Blake had a fight."

"About?" the white-haired girl asked, dreading the answer she knew was coming.

"The usual," admitted Yang, her cheerful false front collapsing. "Blake still hasn't told her parents about us, and I'm tired of hiding it around them." She grimaced. "Look, it's been, what two years, and my dad's known the whole time. Just doesn't feel right, you know?"

Weiss and Ruby shared a look. "Yang," Ruby said slowly, "how many times have the two of you had a fight about this? Especially since school started?"

"A lot," Yang replied, looking away.

"And what always happens?"

Yang shrugged. "We don't talk for a couple of days, then she sits down next to me at lunch or something and it's like nothing happened."

"So," her sister said, poking her in the chest, "stop bringing it up. She's not ready, Yang."

"But what if she never is?" Yang answered nervously. "I mean, she means so much to me, and I just hate hiding it."

"Then try something simple."

"Huh?" Yang was confused.

"Try telling her how you feel. With three magic words." Ruby reached out and took Weiss' hand, a flush rising in her cheeks. "Weiss and I say it a lot, but I don't think I've ever heard you say it to Blake."

"But she knows-" Yang stopped, her brain finally finding first gear. "I… don't think I've ever said it to her. Not like that. I just kept assuming... I gotta go, find her." Yang headed off, making a beeline for Blake's locker, hoping she could catch her girlfriend before class.

Blake was just reaching into her locker for the books for her first class when a quiet, familiar, "Hey," came over the chatter in the hall. She looked over to find Yang standing a few feet away, looking nervous. Frowning, Blake turned back to the locker, only for Yang to interrupt her again. "Listen, I know you probably don't want to talk to me right now, but I got one thing to say, and then I'll leave you alone till you do, okay?" Blake stopped, a book in her hand, not looking at Yang. "I love you."

Movement in the corner of her eye made Blake turn her head just enough to see Yang turning to leave. "Wait." Blake swallowed, not sure what she wanted to say. "I… know you don't like hiding from my parents, but… my mom and dad, they both came from big families, and they wanted a big family of their own, but they just got me. And they've both been pushing me to, you know, settle down and have that big family they couldn't." Blake gave a small, sad sort of chuckle. "Guess the joke's on them, isn't it?"

"Uh," Yang reached up and scratched the back of her head nervously. "There's still ways, you know. Adoption, things like that. It just gets a lot more complicated. If, if you want that."

Blake turned around and put her back against the locker, sagging in relief. "So, so you're good with kids?"

"Yeah, yeah I am, I guess." Yang seemed surprised by her own answer as she leaned up next to Blake, taking a deep breath. "I mean, I hadn't really thought about, you know, long-term stuff, but I think we'd make great moms. Just not right away? I mean, I'd like you to myself for a few years first."

"I think," Blake took a deep, slow breath, "I think maybe it's time we started talking about that long-term stuff."

* * *

"Hey, Weiss," Jaune said, jogging up to Weiss as she and Ruby walked to Ruby's class, hand in hand. It was amazing, how much better just being near Ruby made Weiss feel, how much more certain of who she was and what she wanted. "Have you seen, um the latest photos?"

"Yes, thank you," Weiss said abruptly, then realized what she'd said and who to. "I'm sorry, Jaune, but I haven't seen Ruby in three days, and to come back to this-! It's frustrating. You'd think whoever is responsible would get bored."

"I got it. Buut, I've got a new toy." Jaune reached into the pocket of his uniform. "Ta-da!" he said, unlocking the screen.

"I thought you weren't supposed to have a phone," Ruby said, puzzled.

"Eh, I figure this is a case of forgiveness being easier than permission. Besides," Jaune shrugged, "the phone isn't the nifty bit. I put together a sniffer app. It looks for hardware with specified MAC or IP addresses on a local network."

"Jaune," Weiss said slowly, a hint of irritation in her voice, "say that again in common English, not high technobabble."

He blinked. "I built an app to listen for the shutterbug's phone using its unique electronic fingerprint. So if our shutterbug friend decides to post again, we'll know it and be able to get a fix on them. Here, I'll send both of you the app." Suddenly Jaune's phone made a sound like a sonar ping, startling Jaune so bad he almost dropped it. "I got a hit! Guess they decided to throw you a welcome-back party!"

Jaune took off through the crowd, bouncing off a girl with dainty horns and knocking her to the ground with barely a shouted "Sorry!" before heading for the stairwell and vaulting over the railing to the level below, the yelling from people he almost landed on unheard as Jaune took off again down the hall. Ruby and Weiss barely glanced at each other before taking off after him, if a bit slower and not quite so acrobatically. All three of them knew the description the clerk at the package store had given, and of the students and lone faculty member at Beacon fit that description, there was one name that topped their personal list. And they all knew where her locker was.

Emerald had her back to her locker, eyes darting back and forth between the phone she was trying to hide in her hand and the crowd around her. "Come on, come on, why is this taking so long? Stupid phone," she growled, clutching it tighter as if by squeezing the phone she could make it work faster.

"Actually, I think I might have something to do with that," Jaune said as he skidded to a stop next to her. "I hacked the local cellphone towers so that when you went to upload your pictures, it'd go slower. Not so slow as to make you quit, but enough to be frustrating. I'll take that," he finished, reaching for the phone.

Emerald bolted, running down the hallway toward a nearby stairwell, Jaune, Weiss, and Ruby in pursuit. Students around them yelled, but neither the pursuers or the pursued paid the protests any attention. Ruby was the fastest of those chasing Emerald, but Weiss was better at dancing her way through the crowd.

Suddenly Weiss' foot slid out from under, sending her sprawling across the floor just as she was reaching for Emerald's arm. Frustrated, she grabbed at Emerald's ankle, hoping to at least slow her down. Instead, she snagged Emerald's shoe, sending the green-haired girl to the floor.

The phone flew from Emerald's hand sliding across the floor, coming to rest against someone's shoe. Looking up, Weiss' heart sank when she saw the boy look down to see what had hit his foot. "Mercury, smash it!" Emerald yelled.

Frowning, Mercury reached down to pick up the phone. Letting out a low whistle, he walked slowly over to where Weiss and Emerald were picking themselves off the floor. "I suppose this is what all the fuss is about?"

"Smash it, please!" Emerald yelled again, desperation creeping into her voice. Her pursuers held their breath, waiting for a response.

Mercury tilted his head in thought before shaking his head. "Nah, I don't think so. See, I've figured out a few things that still haven't sunk into that pretty little head of yours." He thrust the phone into Jaune's chest, hard enough to make the blonde boy stumble. "We're even now, right, Arc?"

"You don't owe me—R-Right, even," Jaune said as Mercury glared at him.

Now Mercury turned his glare on Emerald. "Two things: One, stay put. I hear you ran off, you don't want it being me that catches you. Two," he leaned close, almost whispering in her ear, "she is never, _never_ going to give you what you want." Whistling, he grabbed a couple of books from his locker and made his way down the hall.

* * *

It seemed like half the school was crammed into the hallways near the headmaster's office as Emerald was lead out in handcuffs. Jaune had managed to keep her phone unlocked, and the pictures were pretty damming. All Weiss could do was shake her head. "She keeps insisting that she acted alone, but I'd be willing to bet Cinder was helping her. Or at least giving Emerald her orders."

Ruby shrugged. "The only 'help' I've ever seen Cinder give is orders. Betcha Cinder doesn't even have the decency to show up as they walk Emerald out the door."

She would have lost that bet. Cinder had taken up position by the front doors, waiting as if a queen seeing the condemned walked to the gibbet. As Emerald came closer, she started screaming at Cinder, "It was for you! It was all for you!" over and over again.

"Oh be quiet," Cinder said imperiously as if Emerald's ranting was the least important thing in the world. "I honestly don't know what you could ever have hoped to gain, and I'm rather ashamed I ever called you a friend."

Weiss snorted as Emerald collapsed at Cinder's words, sobbing. "'Friend?' 'Lackey' or 'tool' is more like it. Cinder doesn't really do 'friends.' And it looks like she's got a new tool already. That's the new girl, what's her name?"

"Neo," Blake said, her fingers sliding into Yang's. "Neo Politan. Doesn't talk, uses sign language or a whiteboard. She seems friendly, but something about her gives me the creeps."

"So," Pyrrha said, wrapping an arm around Jaune's waist, "that was some pretty slick work. You're not going to get in trouble for that, are you?"

Jaune shrugged. "Maybe, but I figure I can get out of it if I promise to explain how I did it. Some kinda tricky stuff there."

"And what, pray tell do you have on Mercury that he was willing to turn on Emerald like that?" Weiss asked, giving the blonde boy a questioning look."

Jaune just crossed his arms. "Not telling. I promised."

"Jaune," Pyrrha said, whispering in his ear, "you'd tell me, wouldn't you? If I asked nicely."

"Nope. Not my story to tell. And I really, really promised, and you know how I am about promises."

"Huh. Well some answers, anyway." Ruby looked at the clock on the wall. "I've got a math test next period. Meet up after school for milkshakes? Weiss is buying."

"Hey!"


End file.
